United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday met children made homeless by the devastating earthquake that hit south-west China.
Chinese troops racing to drain an ”earthquake lake” ahead of more forecast rain made substantial progress digging a diversion channel and have created emergency escape paths in case a mud and rock dam gives way. The landslide-blocked river in China’s Sichuan province is now the most pressing danger after an earthquake devastated the region on May 12.
China has found what it termed 50 ”hazardous sources of radiation” due to last week’s earthquake, a senior official said on Friday, though he insisted the situation was under control. But Wu Xiaoqing, deputy environment minister, said there had been no accidental releases of radiation.
China vowed on Wednesday to deal severely with anyone found responsible for shoddy state building work, as parents demanded to know why last week’s quake destroyed so many schools, killing thousands of children. Nine days after the massive tremor hit the mountainous Sichuan province in south-western China, rescuers were still finding survivors.
Thousands of terrified survivors of China’s earthquake huddled in the open with their meagre belongings on Tuesday as an aftershock struck and the government warned of more powerful ones to come. The panic, which reportedly gripped a vast area, came as China entered its second day of official mourning over the quake.